Myself and Conor are just hopping on for another one of our livestreams, we'll be talking all things Lodestar previews today, going over the page previews of the book and maybe some other early looks! If you wanna have a bit of a chat with us or have any questions we'd love for you to hop on over!
Lodestar & Dragons Vault Roadmap 26/27 (+ New Page Previews!)
Ahoy Spacers!
We've been hard at work getting Lodestar shipshape and siltworthy this year, and we are very pleased to announce that we can finally pin some dates down for the voyage ahead! Without further ado, here is the roadmap for the remainder of 2026 and into the start of 2027:
TheRoadmap for 2026/27
⚓️ 24/08/26 - Legendary Shipwright Outreach That's this coming Monday! We will be reaching out to all Legendary Shipwright backers via email with a short survey to fill in. If that means you then please keep an eye on your inbox, and fill in the survey as soon as possible so that we can book you in for a call with myself to design your custom siltsail!
🐉 30/08/26 - State of the Vault | Lodestar Stream The Sunday after next we will be hosting another stream on Youtube! Me and Aston will be going over some of the exciting stuff awaiting you all in Lodestar, maybe doing some more ship & monster design, and answering any and all questions you have about the setting!
✨ 15/09/26 - Lodestar Digital Fulfilment Begins Just under a month from now digital rewards will start to be fulfilled! This won't mean all at once, and we aren't sure which will be first, but expect files to start arriving via Backerkit on this date.
🛠️ 5/10/26 - Lodestar Physical Manufacturing Begins Our first physical designs start going to prototype in early October. This is the beginning of getting things made, so we will be coordinating with our manufacturer to fine tune various goods and then signing off on them for mass manufacture!
🌟 12/10/26 - Lodestar Beta PDF Releases The beta PDF of Lodestar releases mid October! This version of the PDF will be released as a final balance, spelling, grammar and error check. It likely won't have most of the final art in it, but you will get to read the book cover to cover before we make necessary corrections, throw in all the beautiful artwork, and send it to print!
☠️ 13/10/26 - Tempest Remaster BK Campaign Launches We've had a lot of spacers get in touch asking if there are physical copies of our first nautical/pirate setting Tempest: A Seafarer's Sourcebook available anywhere, so much that we've decided to do a remaster and rerelease to get the book brought up to date and reprinted as a hardback again! More information on this to follow, but anyone who missed our first campaign for Tempest (or who has Tempest but would like an even prettier version + a collector's edition), this is your chance!
💫 November/December 2026 - Lodestar Final PDF Releases We will round off the year of 2026 by releasing the full Lodestar PDF in all its silt shining glory. This will release via Backerkit, and then go up for general sale on dragonsvault.shop. For another early look at the book, I've attached some new page previews at the end of this update!
📦 February 2027 - Lodestar Physical Fulfilment Begins Christmas season is over, the new year begins, and so does physical fulfilment for Lodestar! February 2027 is when our goods will leave their place of origin and start sailing around the world to reach you guys. We are hard at work as we speak coordinating with our distributors to make sure we are doing everything we can to make this process as easy and painless as possible, and barring any more major global events we are confident things are going to be breezy!
☄️ Early 2027 - The Hunt for the Lost Corsair Releases The final release for Lodestar will be our stretch goal introductory adventure The Hunt for the Lost Corsair! This will release as a PDF via Backerkit, and then go up for general sale on dragonsvault.shop!
Monthly Playtest
Aston will be putting out an update on Monday with our next monthly playtest, as well as the survey for the previous. So if you've not had chance yet, check out last month's playtest in time to get your feedback ready!
Lodestar Page Previews
Finally, I have some more page previews today! As Aston has mentioned it's been a summer of lore for me, and boy have I got some fun stuff waiting for you guys out there in the Beyond. Todays page previews feature some of the spreads from the Realms & Rogues section of the book, which detail a few of the wilder places you might weigh anchor at in this strange galaxy of ours...
Chapter 3: Ship System | Subchapter: Using This System | Pages 171-172
Chapter 3: Ship System | Subchapter: Siltsails | Pages 179-180
That's all from me for today! We really appreciate you all being along for the journey, and a special thanks to those of you that are active in our Vault community Discord(come hang out if you're not there already)! As always if you have any questions or queries you can always reach us via [email protected]
Early Page Previews & Playtest 06: Druid Circle of Everyworld, Cleric Tale Domain & Paladin Oath of the Charter!
Ahoy Valiant Spacefarers!
We've been hard at work this month beginning to really nail down layout of the book ready for all of the art and such to start getting made and added in, Conor even wrote over 20 thousand words of additional lore last week alone whilst he was moving things into the book! (Someone go check on him, he just keeps sending me pdfs full of lore). We actually have a little bit of a preview of some lore and the current style of the book here for you! I'll attach more at the bottom of the update*.
Keep in mind these page previews are early looks at the book, and are missing art and some design elements, and might have typos or other errors.
Before I get onto the usual rigamarole of playtests, surveys, and well wishes I just wanted to slide in a super quick reminder: Please do your survey! We're currently sat at 95% completed surveys, that's first of all pretty damn good! But also leaves about 150 of you who don't currently have any way to receive your bits and bobs for Lodestar! (This includes physical AND digital!) So just make sure you've given that a look if you haven't already!
Okay okay, onto what you're all really here for: More content! This weekPlaytest 06comes with two full casters that me and Conor have been going back and forth on for sometime. There was a potential that one of these two was going to be cut from the final release but I think we've really hit a point where we're happy with both of them! There's also a pretty fun new paladin subclass in there!
First of all we have the Druid: Circle of Everyworld. A druid that does not simply warden their home realm, instead pulling on the alien biology from across the beyond. Sometimes this manifests as chaotic (and a little bit gruesome) mutations to their allies, or bringing a touch of alien flora to their spells! This is a subclass we really wanted to feel different, it can be difficult in a game with as much content as DnD to really nail that but I think we hit a great place!
Next we have the Cleric: Tale Domain. A worshiper of gods of stories, tales, and fables, the Tale domain really pulls on the idea of being and embodying a storyteller yourself. Capable of twisting the narrative in ways that benefit you and your allies. Also one that we've been umming and arring on for a little bit, we didnt want to just do Cleric: The Bard subclass, but also wanted to really hit the vibe of a storyteller!
And finally the Paladin: Oath of The Charter, a real powerhouse of camaraderie and teamwork! The Charter Paladin is all about supporting your allies, creating a network of trust amongst allies (and also obtaining treasure of course!). Even their capstone transformation feature acts as a party-wide buff rather than simply effecting yourself!
Rogue & Warlock Survey
Overall we hope you enjoy these new subclasses! For those that managed to give the rogue or warlock a go from last months update head over here to take a quick look at the survey and let us know what you think!
That's it for me for this month! 3 whole subclasses and 19 pages of previews?! Man we're kind to you guys! But with this playtest we've finished with all of the subclasses in the book so if y'all have any specific requests for what you wanna see next feel free to shout em out in the comments or over in the discord!
Have a wonderful month! Aston
FURTHER PAGE PREVIEWS*
These are from the lore section of the book, particularly the sections focussed on the history, factions, and metaphysics of the Beyond! And again please keep in mind these page previews are early looks at the book, and are missing art and some design elements, and might have typos or other errors.
Playtest 05: Rogue Verminer Archetype, and Warlock Void Patron!
Ahoy Ye Scurvy Dogs!
First of all I'd like to apologize for the small delay in communications, between handling international freight for our last project, the weather currently in the UK, and just getting on with Lodestar me and Conor have been busy busy busy! But that means I have more goodies to show you, this time two more subclasses as we close in on our final subclass playtests for Lodestar!
Anyone that got a chance to read over the Ranger, Monk, or Witch subclasses we'd love to hear what you think! We have our usual feedback survey here for you to tell us how you feel! Backer feedback is always super helpful especially when we're developing unique mechanics that might have room for exploitation, so if you have any thoughts or insider knowledge on how they play please make yourselves heard!
Now onto this weeks playtest: First we have the Roguish Archetype: Verminer, built for rogues that take Arcane Trickster just to get access to a familiar! Taking advantage of the distraction that a small pest can cause on the battlefield to get in some real cheap shots. (And of course what would a Roguish Captain be without his parrot/monkey/amorphous ooze pet?) Next is the Warlock Void Patron, for those that wish to stare into the abyss and go Mad*. The void patron suffuses your body with maddening darkness to warp the minds of your foes and as your pact deepens you become more primordial darkness than man. *New maddened condition also included!
Grab that playtest here! And we'll be back soon to field any feedback or fun combos y'all manage to cook up! If you wanna discuss things in the meantime the conversation is always churning over on the community Discord, we'd love to have ya!
The pirate port of Neversink, built in and around an ancient shell drifting though the silt glittered cosmos of the Beyond...
Ahoy All,
We've got a hefty playtest for you this week, featuring two brand new subclasses, the Far Eye ranger, and the Way of Celestial Alignment monk! As usual we will be releasing a feedback survey for this playtest next month, so you've until then to check them out and give them a spin at your table! In the meantime, come check out the 🐉Vault Community Discord; Aston and myself are very active there, so you can come chat to us or other members of the community, and even get early sneak peeks at art and book content!
Also, I wanted to show of the latest a piece of art I've been working on for Lodestar, the Pirate Port of Neversink! We are reaching the end of our core game and play design phase for Lodestar now, so expect to see more and more art over the coming months!
Witch Coven Playtest
For returning backers from Faerie, we also have a special additional subclass playtest coming your way this week: The Coven of the Spheres, allowing you to play a witch that divines the fates from the celestial bodies. So get ready to roll the bones, for weal or woe!
This playtest is releasing via Backerkit's distribution system to returning backers specifically, since you're the ones most familiar with the Witch class; so if that's you keep an eye on your inbox for the new coven!
Ship System Playtest
The ship system playtest in action! Photo courtesy of Bishop-Cz and crew over in the Vault Community Discord 🐉
As always, the ship system playtest continues! We've had some really useful feedback from you all already, and will continue to test the system and be open to feedback all the way till publishing.
We also want to remind everyone that if you haven't completed your survey, please do so as soon as you read this update. It is really important we get those filled in and signed off as soon as possible to help prevent delays, especially with the current global instability having such an impact on the fulfilment pipeline.
That's all for this week, I hope you're all well and sailing is smooth. We'll be back soon with more updates and content!
First of all, thank you to those of you that have had chance to read through, playtest, and review the first version of the ship system! Already, it's helping to mould the changes we make! Those of you that have already played the system but haven't had chance to give us your feedback yet we'd love to hear from you. This survey is where we will be collecting the bulk of our feedback for the system including versions going forward. At the start I've also included a small section so you can let us know which version you're talking about specifically! Those of you that have responded already: have no fear! We can collect multiple surveys from the same person, if you have comments about newer versions feel free to just fill the survey out again, just let us know in the additional comments if that's the case.
Next, we have a slightly updated version of the ship system for you today. Mostly small wording tweaks and some content additions (if you want to make sure you know exactly what's changed here is the changelog), but you'll find new weapons and munitions, as well as weather and hazards!. If you'd like to find the version 1.0 document, it can be accessed via the Vault Discord.
But that's not all, we've also bundled up a few of our ship upgrades and other hazards and weapons together for those of you that want to have a bit more of a play and insight into the shipbuilding mechanics, or spice up your encounter building!
Finally, we'd absolutely adore it if you hopped into our discordand had a chat to us about what you think, the ship system is a pretty big undertaking mechanically and we love seeing what people do with it!
That's all from me for this week gang! I hope you're all doing wonderfully!
We've been hard at work getting Lodestar shipshape and siltworthy this year, and we are very pleased to announce that we can finally pin some dates down for the voyage ahead! Without further ado, here is the roadmap for the remainder of 2026 and into the start of 2027:
TheRoadmap for 2026/27
⚓️ 24/08/26 - Legendary Shipwright Outreach That's this coming Monday! We will be reaching out to all Legendary Shipwright backers via email with a short survey to fill in. If that means you then please keep an eye on your inbox, and fill in the survey as soon as possible so that we can book you in for a call with myself to design your custom siltsail!
🐉 30/08/26 - State of the Vault | Lodestar Stream The Sunday after next we will be hosting another stream on Youtube! Me and Aston will be going over some of the exciting stuff awaiting you all in Lodestar, maybe doing some more ship & monster design, and answering any and all questions you have about the setting!
✨ 15/09/26 - Lodestar Digital Fulfilment Begins Just under a month from now digital rewards will start to be fulfilled! This won't mean all at once, and we aren't sure which will be first, but expect files to start arriving via Backerkit on this date.
🛠️ 5/10/26 - Lodestar Physical Manufacturing Begins Our first physical designs start going to prototype in early October. This is the beginning of getting things made, so we will be coordinating with our manufacturer to fine tune various goods and then signing off on them for mass manufacture!
🌟 12/10/26 - Lodestar Beta PDF Releases The beta PDF of Lodestar releases mid October! This version of the PDF will be released as a final balance, spelling, grammar and error check. It likely won't have most of the final art in it, but you will get to read the book cover to cover before we make necessary corrections, throw in all the beautiful artwork, and send it to print!
☠️ 13/10/26 - Tempest Remaster BK Campaign Launches We've had a lot of spacers get in touch asking if there are physical copies of our first nautical/pirate setting Tempest: A Seafarer's Sourcebook available anywhere, so much that we've decided to do a remaster and rerelease to get the book brought up to date and reprinted as a hardback again! More information on this to follow, but anyone who missed our first campaign for Tempest (or who has Tempest but would like an even prettier version + a collector's edition), this is your chance!
💫 November/December 2026 - Lodestar Final PDF Releases We will round off the year of 2026 by releasing the full Lodestar PDF in all its silt shining glory. This will release via Backerkit, and then go up for general sale on dragonsvault.shop. For another early look at the book, I've attached some new page previews at the end of this update!
📦 February 2027 - Lodestar Physical Fulfilment Begins Christmas season is over, the new year begins, and so does physical fulfilment for Lodestar! February 2027 is when our goods will leave their place of origin and start sailing around the world to reach you guys. We are hard at work as we speak coordinating with our distributors to make sure we are doing everything we can to make this process as easy and painless as possible, and barring any more major global events we are confident things are going to be breezy!
☄️ Early 2027 - The Hunt for the Lost Corsair Releases The final release for Lodestar will be our stretch goal introductory adventure The Hunt for the Lost Corsair! This will release as a PDF via Backerkit, and then go up for general sale on dragonsvault.shop!
Monthly Playtest
Aston will be putting out an update on Monday with our next monthly playtest, as well as the survey for the previous. So if you've not had chance yet, check out last month's playtest in time to get your feedback ready!
Lodestar Page Previews
Finally, I have some more page previews today! As Aston has mentioned it's been a summer of lore for me, and boy have I got some fun stuff waiting for you guys out there in the Beyond. Todays page previews feature some of the spreads from the Realms & Rogues section of the book, which detail a few of the wilder places you might weigh anchor at in this strange galaxy of ours...
Chapter 3: Ship System | Subchapter: Using This System | Pages 171-172
Chapter 3: Ship System | Subchapter: Siltsails | Pages 179-180
That's all from me for today! We really appreciate you all being along for the journey, and a special thanks to those of you that are active in our Vault community Discord(come hang out if you're not there already)! As always if you have any questions or queries you can always reach us via [email protected]
Myself and Conor are just hopping on for another one of our livestreams, we'll be talking all things Lodestar previews today, going over the page previews of the book and maybe some other early looks! If you wanna have a bit of a chat with us or have any questions we'd love for you to hop on over!
We've been hard at work this month beginning to really nail down layout of the book ready for all of the art and such to start getting made and added in, Conor even wrote over 20 thousand words of additional lore last week alone whilst he was moving things into the book! (Someone go check on him, he just keeps sending me pdfs full of lore). We actually have a little bit of a preview of some lore and the current style of the book here for you! I'll attach more at the bottom of the update*.
Keep in mind these page previews are early looks at the book, and are missing art and some design elements, and might have typos or other errors.
Before I get onto the usual rigamarole of playtests, surveys, and well wishes I just wanted to slide in a super quick reminder: Please do your survey! We're currently sat at 95% completed surveys, that's first of all pretty damn good! But also leaves about 150 of you who don't currently have any way to receive your bits and bobs for Lodestar! (This includes physical AND digital!) So just make sure you've given that a look if you haven't already!
Okay okay, onto what you're all really here for: More content! This weekPlaytest 06comes with two full casters that me and Conor have been going back and forth on for sometime. There was a potential that one of these two was going to be cut from the final release but I think we've really hit a point where we're happy with both of them! There's also a pretty fun new paladin subclass in there!
First of all we have the Druid: Circle of Everyworld. A druid that does not simply warden their home realm, instead pulling on the alien biology from across the beyond. Sometimes this manifests as chaotic (and a little bit gruesome) mutations to their allies, or bringing a touch of alien flora to their spells! This is a subclass we really wanted to feel different, it can be difficult in a game with as much content as DnD to really nail that but I think we hit a great place!
Next we have the Cleric: Tale Domain. A worshiper of gods of stories, tales, and fables, the Tale domain really pulls on the idea of being and embodying a storyteller yourself. Capable of twisting the narrative in ways that benefit you and your allies. Also one that we've been umming and arring on for a little bit, we didnt want to just do Cleric: The Bard subclass, but also wanted to really hit the vibe of a storyteller!
And finally the Paladin: Oath of The Charter, a real powerhouse of camaraderie and teamwork! The Charter Paladin is all about supporting your allies, creating a network of trust amongst allies (and also obtaining treasure of course!). Even their capstone transformation feature acts as a party-wide buff rather than simply effecting yourself!
Rogue & Warlock Survey
Overall we hope you enjoy these new subclasses! For those that managed to give the rogue or warlock a go from last months update head over here to take a quick look at the survey and let us know what you think!
That's it for me for this month! 3 whole subclasses and 19 pages of previews?! Man we're kind to you guys! But with this playtest we've finished with all of the subclasses in the book so if y'all have any specific requests for what you wanna see next feel free to shout em out in the comments or over in the discord!
Have a wonderful month! Aston
FURTHER PAGE PREVIEWS*
These are from the lore section of the book, particularly the sections focussed on the history, factions, and metaphysics of the Beyond! And again please keep in mind these page previews are early looks at the book, and are missing art and some design elements, and might have typos or other errors.
First of all I'd like to apologize for the small delay in communications, between handling international freight for our last project, the weather currently in the UK, and just getting on with Lodestar me and Conor have been busy busy busy! But that means I have more goodies to show you, this time two more subclasses as we close in on our final subclass playtests for Lodestar!
Anyone that got a chance to read over the Ranger, Monk, or Witch subclasses we'd love to hear what you think! We have our usual feedback survey here for you to tell us how you feel! Backer feedback is always super helpful especially when we're developing unique mechanics that might have room for exploitation, so if you have any thoughts or insider knowledge on how they play please make yourselves heard!
Now onto this weeks playtest: First we have the Roguish Archetype: Verminer, built for rogues that take Arcane Trickster just to get access to a familiar! Taking advantage of the distraction that a small pest can cause on the battlefield to get in some real cheap shots. (And of course what would a Roguish Captain be without his parrot/monkey/amorphous ooze pet?) Next is the Warlock Void Patron, for those that wish to stare into the abyss and go Mad*. The void patron suffuses your body with maddening darkness to warp the minds of your foes and as your pact deepens you become more primordial darkness than man. *New maddened condition also included!
Grab that playtest here! And we'll be back soon to field any feedback or fun combos y'all manage to cook up! If you wanna discuss things in the meantime the conversation is always churning over on the community Discord, we'd love to have ya!
